Refrigerator door construction



Oct. 2, 1956 c. E. SULCEK 2,764,785

REFRIGERATOR DOOR CONSTRUCTION Filed Dec. 7, 1953 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 o I o o 1 l/VVEA/TOI? L26 CHA/PL ES E. SUL CEK PMO,W

A TTOR/VE) REFRIGERATOR DOOR CONSTRUCTION Filed Dec. 7, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 F/G 6 4,71 K 5 //v VE/vrm CHARL ES E. SUL CEK United States Patent REFRIGERATOR DOOR CONSTRUCTION Charles E. Sulcek, Evansville, In d., assignor, by mesne assignments, to Whirlpool-Seeger Corporation, a corporation of Delaware Application December 7, 1953, Serial No. 396,444 7 Claims. (CI. 20-35) This invention forms a. continuation in part of a prior filed c o-pending application of the same applicant. That In many household refrigerator designs, the refrigerator 7 door is constructed as a full-length door which extends below the food storage compartment and covers a bottom compartment. This bottom. compartment is usually used for housing the compressor unit or a storage drawer. Since the bottom compartment is not refrigerated, there is no need to insulate that portion of the door adjacent to this compartment. However, attempts which have been made in the art to divide the door into an insulated compartment and an uninsulated compartment have not met with success. door is usually constructed of relatively thin gauged sheet metal, and if a rigid baflie is placed within the door between the outer and inner door panels, normal use of the door in cooperation with the cabinet will result in a serious marking or scoring of the outer door the rigid baffle. Because of the curvilinear shape of most refrigerator outer door panels; thescoring will be prevalent on the front face of the outer door panel. The primary object of the present invention is to provide a refrigerator with a full-length door having an insulated portion adjacent the food storage compartment and a non-insulated portion adjacent the bottom compartment. Another object of the present invention is to provide a novel batfle arrangement for a refrigerator door in which a transverse baffle is spaced upwardly from the bottom edge of the refrigerator door, thus dividing the door into two compartments and also strengthening the door.

Still another object of the presentinvention is to provide means for preventing air circulation between the two door compartments. Y

A further'objeet of the presentinvention is to provide a baflie arrangement for a refrigerator door wherein the bafile will in no way mark or score the outer panel of the refrigerator door, and which will also provide means for maintaining a sealing compound.

Other objects and features of the present invention will be apparent upon a perusal of the following specification and drawings wherein: t t I Figure 1 is a perspective view of a refrigerator cabinet providedwith the improved door construction and having portions thereof broken away;

. Figure 2 is a verticalcross-sectional View of the door taken along the line 2-2 of Figure l;

Figure 3 is a detailedvertical section of the transverse baflle of the refrigerator door in the present embodiment;

Figure 4 is a perspective view of one end of the transthe bottom door panel removed;

The outer door panel of a'refrigerator panel by t "ice Figure 6 is a rear view of the outer door panel of a modified construction of the present embodiment with the inner door panel and the bottom door panel re, moved; and.

Figure 7 is a bottom view of ure 6. t

Illustrated in the drawings is avertical-type refrigerator cabinet 10 having a refrigerated food storage corn partment 11 with a bottom 12 spaced above the refrigerator cabinet bottom 13. Below the bottom 12 is a non refrigerated bottomcompartment 21 in which a storage drawer 14 is housed. A full-length door 15 is hinged to the battle shown in Figthe cabinet 10 by hinges 1-6 and covers both the food compartment 11 and the storage drawer 14. :This door 15 comprises an; outer. door panel 17 formed of a sheet metal, an inner door panel 18 of a rigid heat-insulating material, a bottom door panel 19 formed of a sheet metal, and a rubber gasket 20 for sealing around the food storage compartment. If desired, the inner door panel could be made to extend down tothe bottom of the outer door panel; thus no bottom door panel would herequired.

The outer door panel 17 is formed as a..curvilinear panel 22 having a top wall 23, bottom wall 24, and side walls 25 The top, bottom, and side walls arebent inw'ardly toward each other to form a marginal flange 26 about the door. The inner door panel 18 and the gasket 20 lit against the marginal flange 26 and are secured thereto 'by some means, such as sheet metal screws, 28,

. which are threaded through holes 27 spaced around the flange 26. The bottom door panel 19 is also positioned against flange 26 and secured thereto by screws 28. The outerdoor panel 17 is formed of a material such as a relatively thin-gauged sheet metal. It may be noted that the described construction of the refrigerator door will result in a refrigerator door having side walls which are substantially strong and rigid. However, the outer panel 221Wlll not be substantially strong or rigid and may usually be bowed by relatively small stresses.

Spaced from the bottom wall 24 is a transverse 'baffle 29 formed from a material, such as sheet metal, into a substantially L-shaped channel having a vertical leg -30 and a horizontal leg 31. Along the edge of leg 31, an inclined flange 32 is formed having an edge portion 46 shaped to conform to the contour of the outer door panel 17. Because of the inclination of the flange 32 andbecause of the curvilinear shape of the flange 32, the inclined flange 32 is relatively easily: deformed orbent along the central portion thereof whilebeing substantially rigid along theside portions thereof. The baflie is positioned with the edge portion 46 flush against the inner surface of the outer door panel 17 and with the ends of leg 30 positioned under flange 26 and secured thereto by some means, suchas spot-welding, represented by the reference numeral 40. Holes 33 are spaced along leg 30 into which screws 28 are fastened for securing to the 'baflie 29 the top edge of the bottom door panel 19, the

rubber gasket 20, and the bottomedge of the inner door panel 18. t p

The baffle 29 thus divides the space between the outer door panel 17 and the inner door panels 18 and 19 into twoseparate compartments and 38. From the fore going it can be seen that the compressible or relatively resilient portion of the flange 32 oftthe baflie 29 is dis posed against the easily compressible portion of the outer door panel 22, and the rigid or non-resilient portions of the flange 32 of the baffle 29 are disposed against the incompressible or rigid portions of the side: walls of the refrigerator door. Thus, a blow or any compressing force against. the flexible portion of the outer panel 22 will cause a bending of the inclined flange .32 of the baflle 29 with the result that the outer door panel 22 will not be marred or scored by the edge portion 46 of the inclined flange 32'. This is very-important in the refrigeration art since the appearance of the outer door panel of a refrigerator door is very important. Since a refrigerator door in common usage will receive many bumps or blows, an incompressible batfle disposed against the inner surface of the outer door panel would result in the forming of a substantially horizontal ridge or bump after considerable usage of the refrigerator door. The curved edge of the refrigerator door as mentioned previously is substantially rigid, and therefore, the portion of the baffle disposed adjacent or against the curved edge portions need not be resilient, but may very well be rigid to aid in strengthening the edge portions of the door. A further very important advantage is created by the afore-described construction, and this specifically is the V-shaped channel which is formed by the inclined flange 32 and the inner surface of the outer door panel 22. This V-shaped channel is filled with a sealing material 34 and prevents the passage of air between the edge portion 46 of the baffle 29 and the inner surface of the outer door panel 22. The sealing material 34 is formed ofsome material which will not harden, but which will maintain a soft and pliable consistency over a long period of time. The V-shaped channel will confine the relatively soft sealing material 34 at the points Where it is most needed, and forces or bumps against the outer door panel 22 resulting in a flexing of the outer door panel 22 and the flange 34 of the bafile 29 will not reduce the effectiveness of the sealing material 34. Thus, it may be seen that the specific construction of the battle 29 fulfills two important functions: that of providing a resilient batfle across a refrigerator door with the resiliency disposed in the portions of the refrigerator door where such a resiliency is most important, and further, by providing a V-shaped channel for effectively containing the relatively soft sealing material. The compartment 37 is disposed adjacent to the refrigerated food storage compartment 11, and compartment 38 is disposed adjacent to the non-refrigerated compartment 21. The compartment 37 is filled with an insulating material 39 to prevent any substantial conduction of heat through the refrigerator door to the refrigerated food storage compartment. Since compartment 38 is disposed adjacent to the non-refrigerated compartment 21, no insulation is required in this compartment.

Corner brackets 35 are positioned in each upper corner of the door and secured to flange 26, as by spot-welding. Brackets 39 are also positioned above baffle 29 and secured in place by spot-welding, one end of each to baffle leg 3 and the other end to flange 26. Diagonal straps or braces 36 are secured to the brackets 35 and 39 by screws 41 and serve to brace the door against any warping or twisting thereof.

In the modified structure, as illustrated in Figures 6 and -7, corner brackets 42 are positioned in each corner of the door and secured to the marginal flanges by spot-welding. Straps or braces 43 are secured to brackets 42 and are crossed to extend'diagonally across the door. Baflle 44 is provided with slots 45 through which the braces 43 pass. A gum-like sealing material is placed in the slots around the braces 43 in order to seal against any air circulation therethrough.

From the above description it will be apparent that there is provided a full-length door construction whichis divided into an insulated compartment and a non-insulated compartment by a novel transverse battle. The baffle acts as a seal between said compartments and in cooperation with the sealing material prevents any air circulation therebetween, while in no way effecting any marring or scoring of the outer door panel when the door is in normal use. i

i Having described the invention and the preferred forms of embodiment thereof, it is to be understood that the said invention isnot limitedto the precisedetails as shown and described but only by the scope of the claims whic follow.

What is claimed is:

1. In a refrigerator cabinet construction, a refrigerator door comprising an outer door panel and an inner door panel mounted in a spaced-apart relationship, said outer door panel deflectable toward said inner door panel, a relatively soft sealing compound, baffle means mounted to said inner door panel and abutting the inner surface of said outer door panel for dividing the space between said inner door panel and said outerdoor panel into two compartments, said baffle means having a portion formed to rendersaid baflie means resilient, whereby said outer door panel remains deflectable toward said inner door panel, said portion and the inner surface of said outer panel cooperating to contain and maintain said sealing compound between said baffle means and the inner surface of said outer panel. V

2. In a refrigerator cabinet construction, a refrigerator door comprising an outer door panel, said outer door panel formed to have a curvilinear shape and formed to provide side walls, an inner door panel mounted in a spaced-apart relationship from said outer door panel and mounted to said side walls, the face of said outer door panel being deflectable toward said inner door panel, baflle means mounted to said inner door panel and abutting the inner surface of said outer door panel for dividing the space between said inner door panel and said outer door panel into two vertically spaced compartments, said batfle means formed to have substantially the shape of a horizontal section through said inner door panel and said outer door panel, said baflle means further formed to have the edge portion thereof which abuts said outer door paneldirected out of the plane of said baffle means whereby said edge portion constitutes a lever arm so that a force applied normal to said outer door panel tends to deflect said edgeportion toward said inner door panel, whereby said outer door panel remains deflectable toward said inner door panel.

3. In a refrigerator cabinet construction, a refrigerator door comprising an outer panel and an inner panel mounted in a spaced-apart relationship, said outer panel deflectable toward said inner panel, means for dividing the space between said panels into two vertically spaced compartments without deforming said outer panel, said means comprising a baflle, said bafiie having a horizontal leg and a flange, said flange mounted to said horizontal leg to extend in a downward direction at some angle between the horizontal and the vertical, whereby said flange constitutes a lever arm so that a force applied to the outer edge of said flange parallel to said horizontal leg tends to deflect said flange further downward, said bafile positioned between said panels, said horizontal leg secured to said inner-panel, the lower edge of said flange being positioned to abut the inner surface of said outer panel, whereby said outer panel remainsdeflectable toward saidinner panel.

4. In arefrigerator cabinet construction, a refrigerator door comprising an outer panel and an inner panel spaced some distance therefrom, said outer panel being relatively 1 deformable, means for dividing the space between said panels into two vertically spaced compartments without deforming said outer panel in use of said door, said means comprising a baffle, said baffle having a vertical leg, a horizontal leg, and a flange, said flange mounted to said horizontal leg to extend in a downward direction at some angle between the horizontal and the vertical so that said flange constitutes a lever arm so that a force applied to the outer edge of said flange and normal to said vertical leg tends to deflect said flange toward a plane through said vertical leg, said baffle positioned between said panels, said vertical leg of said baffle being secured to said inner panel, the lower edge of said flange being positioned to abut the inner surface of said outer panel, whereby said outer panel is deformable some distance towards. said a horizontal leg and a flange, said flange mounted to said horizontal leg to extend in a downward direction at some angle between the horizontal and the vertical, whereby said flange constitutes a lever arm so that a force applied to the outer edge of said flange in a direction parallel to the plane of said horizontal leg tends to deflect said flange further in a downward direction, said baflle positionable between said panels, said horizontal leg securable to said inner panel, the lower edge of said flange being positionable to abut the inner surface of saidouter panel, whereby said outer panel remains deflectable toward said inner panel when said bafiie is mounted to divide the space between said panels into two vertically spaced compartments.

6. In a refrigerator cabinet construction, a refrigerator door comprising an outer door panel and an inner door panel mounted in a spaced apart relationship, said outer door panel deflectable toward said inner door panel, a pliable compound, bafiie means mounted to said inner door panel and abutting the inner surface of said outer door panel for dividing the space between said inner door panel and said outer door panel into two compartments, said batfle means having a portion formed to render said bafile means resilient, whereby said outer door panel re mains deflectable toward said inner door panel, said portion and the inner surface of said outer panel cooperating to contain and maintain said pliable compound be,- tween said baflle means and the inner surface of said outer door panel. I

7. In a refrigerator cabinet construction, a refrigerator door comprising an outer door panel, said outer door panel formed to have a curvilinear shape and formed to provide side walls, an inner door panel mounted in a spaced apart relationship from said outer door panel and mounted to said side walls, the face of said outer door panel being deflectable toward said inner door panel, a bafiie mounted to said inner door panel and abutting the inner surface of said outer door panel for dividing the space between said inner door panel and said outer door panel into two vertically spaced compartments, said baflie formed to have substantially the shape of a horizontal section through said inner door panel and said outer door panel, said bafile formed to have a portion thereof directed out of the plane of said baffle whereby said portion constitutes a lever arm so that a force applied normal to said outer door panel tends to deflect said portion toward said inner door panel, whereby said outer door panel remains defiectable toward said inner door panel.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,047,996 Crosley et al July 21, 1936 2,336,644 Scullen Dec. 14, 1943 2,670,820 Worthington Mar. 2, 1954 

